Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,370 concerns a “Tri-Mix Sugar-Based Dispensing System.” This patent describes a beverage dispensing system that separates the highly concentrated flavoring from the sweetener and the diluent. This separation allows for the creation of numerous beverage options using several flavor modules and one universal sweetener. One of the objectives of the patent is to allow the beverage dispenser to provide as many beverages as may be available on the market in pre-packaged bottles or cans. U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,370 is incorporated herein by reference.
These separation techniques have continued to be refined and improved. As is shown in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/276,553, entitled “Methods and Apparatuses for Making Compositions Comprising an Acid and an Acid Degradable Component and/or Compositions Comprising a Plurality of Selectable Components”, the acid and non-acid components of the non-sweetened concentrate also may be separated. This separation allows for a prolonged shelf life and also enables further concentration of the flavor components. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/276,553 is incorporated herein by reference.
Beverage dispensers historically have worked by combining a diluent (such as water) with a beverage base. These beverage bases usually have a reconstitution ratio of about 3:1 to 6:1. The beverage bases usually come in large containers that require large amounts of storage space and may need to be refrigerated. Theses requirements often necessitate the need to store these containers far from the actual dispenser and to run long lines from the containers to the dispenser.
Given the improvements in shelf life and concentration described above, there is a desire for a beverage dispenser that can produce even more and different types of beverages while using a smaller footprint. This can be accomplished by breaking down the traditional beverage bases into constituent parts at much higher reconstitution ratios. These parts can then be stored in much smaller packages and stored closer to, adjacent to, or within the beverage dispenser itself. The beverage dispenser preferably can give the consumer multiple beverage options such that the consumer has the ability to customize his or her beverage as desired.